View source for Communist Party of Ukraine

{{Short description|Banned political party in Ukraine}}
{{About|the party founded in 1993|the banned party which existed from 1918 to 1991 and ruled the Ukrainian SSR|Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)}}
{{Distinguish|Ukrainian Communist Party|Ukrainian Communist Party (Borotbists)}}
{{Expand Russian|topic=gov|Коммунистическая партия Украины|date=February 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = Communist Party of Ukraine
| lang1            = Ukrainian
| name_lang1       = {{lang|uk|Комуністична партія України}}
| lang2            = Russian
| name_lang2       = {{lang|ru|Коммунистическая партия Украины}}
| logo             = Ukrainian Communist Party logo (positive).svg
| colorcode        = {{party color|Communist Party of Ukraine}}
| abbreviation     = KPU / {{lang|uk|КПУ}}
| first_secretary  = [[Petro Symonenko]]
| leader1_title    = Second Secretary
| leader1_name     = [[Igor Alekseyev (politician)|Igor Alekseyev]]
| founded          = 19 June 1993<br>({{ayd|1993|06|19}})
| banned           = 16 December 2015<br>({{ayd|2015|12|16}})<br>{{small|(banned in court)}}<hr>6 July 2022<br>({{ayd|2022|07|06}})<br>{{small|(ban upheld in court)}}
| split            = [[Socialist Party of Ukraine]]
| predecessor      = [[Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)]]
| newspaper        = {{Transliteration|uk|Komunist}} (since 2000)<ref>[http://www.komunist.com.ua/index_u.htm Official website]. Komunist newspaper.</ref>
| youth_wing       = [[Komsomol of Ukraine]]
| membership_year  = 2001
| membership       = 140,000<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/the-power-the-left-ukraine|title=The Power of the Left in Ukraine|website=www.wilsoncenter.org}}</ref>{{update inline|date=March 2022}}
| ideology         = [[Communism]]<ref name="Nordsieck">{{cite web|title=Ukraine|url=http://parties-and-elections.eu/ukraine.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612211142/http://parties-and-elections.eu/ukraine.html|archive-date=12 June 2018|year=2014|website=Parties and Elections in Europe|first=Wolfram|last=Nordsieck|access-date=6 September 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><br />[[Marxism–Leninism]]<ref name="Nordsieck"/><br />[[Left-wing populism#Ukraine|Left-wing populism]]<ref name="tkpopulism">{{cite web|url=http://www.taraskuzio.net/Comparative%20Politics_files/Populism_Kuzio.pdf|title=Populism in Ukraine in a Comparative European Context (in English)|publisher=[[Problems of Post-Communism]], vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 3–18|date=November–December 2010|access-date=29 November 2013|archive-date=16 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140516205436/http://www.taraskuzio.net/Comparative%20Politics_files/Populism_Kuzio.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><br />[[Soviet patriotism]]<br />[[Russophilia#Ukraine|Russophilia]]<ref name="theguardian">{{cite web|title=Kiev has a nasty case of anti-communist hysteria
|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/18/ukraine-communist-party-ban-hysteria|website=[[The Guardian]]|first=Volodymyr|last=Ishchenko|date=18 December 2015|quote=Ukraine's Communist party was the most popular political group in the country during market reforms in the 1990s, but has since degenerated into a conservative and pro-Russian rather than pro-working class grouping, gradually losing its voters and elderly membership}}</ref><br />[[Social conservatism]]<ref>{{cite web|title=After the ban: a short history of Ukraine's Communist Party|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/after-ban-short-history-of-ukraine-s-communist-party|website=[[openDemocracy]]|first=Denys|last=Gorbach|date=8 January 2016|quote=Leaving actual class analysis by the wayside, it claims to defend the interests of the 'people' against the 'oligarchs', yet combines this rhetoric with social conservatism (death penalty, pro-natalism and persecution of LGBT people)}}</ref><br>'''Factions:'''<br>[[Anti-Ukrainian racism]]<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ru:Василий Витальевич Шульгин. "Украинствующие и мы"|trans-title=Vasily V. Shulgin. "Ukrainophiles and us"|language=ru|url=http://kremenchug-kpu.nm.ru/read/Shulygin.htm?i|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306000555/http://kremenchug-kpu.nm.ru/read/Shulygin.htm?i|archive-date=6 March 2008|publisher=Communist Party of Ukraine|date=2004}} the Kremenchuk branch of the Communist Party of Ukraine published an article that denied the existence of Ukrainian culture.</ref>
| position         = [[Far-left politics|Far-left]]
| national         = [[Left Opposition (Ukraine)|Left Opposition]] (2015–2022)
| continental      = [[Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union|UCP–CPSU]]
| european         = 
| international    = [[International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties|IMCWP]]
| flag             = Flag of the Communist Party of Ukraine.svg
| website          = [https://web.archive.org/web/20220104153250/https://kpu.ua/ kpu.ua (archived)]
| colors           = {{color box|{{party color|Communist Party of Ukraine}}}} [[Red]]
| country          = Ukraine
}}
{{Socialism in Ukraine}}
The '''Communist Party of Ukraine''' ('''CPU''' or '''KPU'''){{efn|{{bulleted list|{{langx|uk|Комуністична партія України|Komunistychna partiya Ukrayiny}}|{{langx|ru|Коммунистическая партия Украины|Kommunisticheskaya partiya Ukrainy}}|[[Abbreviation]]: '''KPU''', from Ukrainian and Russian "{{lang|uk|КПУ}}"}}}} is a banned [[Political parties in Ukraine|political party in Ukraine]]. It was founded in 1993 and claimed to be the successor to the Soviet-era [[Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)|Communist Party of Ukraine]], which had been banned in 1991.<ref>[https://www.kpu.ua/ru/page/statute The Communist Party of Ukraine statute (Статут Комуністичної партії України)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214183439/https://www.kpu.ua/ru/page/statute |date=14 February 2022 }}. Communist Party of Ukraine (www.kpu.ua)</ref> In 2002 it held a "unification" congress when both "old and new" parties merged.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210805172301/https://ria.ru/20020527/155482.html Президент Украины Леонид Кучма, бывший президент Леонид Кравчук и эск-спикер парламента Иван Плющ исключены из рядов Компартии Украины]. [[RIA Novosti]]. 27 May 2002</ref> The party is a member of the Moscow-based [[Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Union of Communist Parties]], an umbrella organisation for all communist parties of the [[former Soviet Union]]. The party has been led by [[Petro Symonenko]] since it was founded.<ref name="ukctec">{{in lang|uk}} [http://pda.pravda.com.ua/news/id_7131315 European Court began reviewing complaints about the ban of the Communist Party], [[Ukrainska Pravda]], (30 December 2016)<br />[http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-ukraine-court-bans-communist-party-2157044 Ukraine court bans Communist Party], [[Daily News and Analysis]] (17 Dec 2015)</ref><ref name="theguardian" />

[[Communist party|Communist parties]] have a long history in [[Ukraine]]. With the [[fall of the Soviet Union]], members of the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine formed the [[Socialist Party of Ukraine]]. After being revived in 1993, the Communist Party was represented in the [[Ukrainian parliament]] from 1994 until the [[2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election]], which ended a period of parliamentary representation for communists stretching back to [[1918 Ukrainian Constituent Assembly election|1918]].<ref name=ddcad/><ref name="General official results of Rada election 2014">[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/233747.html General official results of Rada election], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (11 November 2014)<br />[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/233696.html Central Election Commission announces official results of Rada election on party tickets], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (11 November 2014)</ref> The Communist Party and its predecessor were the largest party in Ukrainian parliamentary elections for the first eight years of [[free and fair election]], from [[1990 Ukrainian Supreme Soviet election|1990]] until [[1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election|1998]].

According to Ukrainian sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko, by the 2010s the party had "degenerated into a [[Conservatism|conservative]] and pro-Russian rather than pro-[[working class]] grouping, gradually losing its voters and membership".<ref name="theguardian" />

During the 2013–2014 [[Euromaidan]] protests, the party voted for [[Anti-protest laws in Ukraine|anti-protest laws]]. However, it also [[Revolution of Dignity#Removal of Yanukovych|voted to remove]] President [[Viktor Yanukovych]] from office in the [[Revolution of Dignity]]. During the [[Russo-Ukrainian War]] which followed, the [[Security Service of Ukraine]] said the party was actively helping [[Donetsk People's Republic|pro-Russian separatists]] and [[Russian people's militias in Ukraine|Russian proxy forces]], which it denied.<ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/ukraine-communists-deny-financing-terrorism-accuse-security-service-chief-of-lying-362028.html?flavour=full | title= Ukraine Communists deny financing terrorism, accuse Security Service chief of lying|newspaper= Kyiv Post| access-date= 26 August 2014}}</ref> Regional party cells formed the pro-separatist [[Communist Party of the Donetsk People's Republic]]. In May 2015, Ukraine [[Decommunization in Ukraine|banned Soviet communist symbols]].<ref name="Ban">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/21/ukraine-bans-soviet-symbols-criminalises-sympathy-for-communism | title=Ukraine bans Soviet symbols and criminalises sympathy for communism | work=The Guardian | date=21 May 2015 | access-date=30 June 2015}}</ref> Because of these laws, and the Communist Party's support for [[Donbas separatists]], the party was barred from standing in elections.<ref name="Banukcom24715">[http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/ukraines-justice-ministry-outlaws-communists-from-elections-394217.html Ukraine's Justice Ministry outlaws Communists from elections], ''[[Kyiv Post]]'' (24 July 2015).</ref><ref>[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/279946.html Justice Ministry bans three communist parties from taking part in election process as they violate Ukrainian law – minister], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (24 July 2015)</ref> In December 2015, the Communist Party was banned, for actions "aimed at violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, collaboration with Russian proxy forces, and inciting ethnic hatred".<ref name="unian.info">{{Cite web|url=https://www.unian.info/society/1214377-court-rules-complete-ban-of-communist-party-of-ukraine.html|title=Court rules complete ban of Communist Party of Ukraine|website=www.unian.info}}</ref><ref name="theguardian.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/17/ukraine-bans-communist-party-separatism|title=Ukraine bans Communist party for 'promoting separatism'|date=17 December 2015|website=the Guardian}}</ref> The party appealed the ban to the [[European Court of Human Rights]] and various Ukrainian courts, and participated in some elections by joining umbrella groups and running candidates as independents.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 December 2016 |title=The European Court has begun consideration of a complaint against the KPU's ban |url=http://pda.pravda.com.ua/news/id_7131315/ |access-date= |website=[[Ukrainska Pravda]]}}</ref><ref name="theguardian" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=17 December 2015 |title=Ukraine court bans Communist Party |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-ukraine-court-bans-communist-party-2157044 |access-date= |website=[[Daily News & Analysis]] |language=en}}</ref> The [[Central Election Commission of Ukraine]] prohibited Symonenko's candidacy for the [[2019 Ukrainian presidential election]].<ref name="bb7206166UPCECbb">{{in lang|uk}} [https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2019/02/8/7206166/ The CEC refused to register nearly fifty presidential candidates], [[Ukrainska Pravda]] (8 February 2019)</ref>

Party officials reportedly supported the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]].<ref name="Roschina">{{Cite web |last=Roschina |first=Olena |date=11 August 2023 |title=Ukraine's Security Service serves leader of banned Communist party with notice of suspicion and describes his escape to Russia |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/08/11/7415159/ |access-date= |website=[[Ukrainska Pravda]] |language=en}}</ref> As a result, its ban was upheld and its assets were seized by the state in July 2022.<ref name="Obozrevatel">{{in lang|ru}} [https://www.obozrevatel.com/politics-news/a-kuda-propal-petr-simonenko-okkupantyi-pomogli-emu-vyiehat.htm А куда пропал Петр Симоненко? Оккупанты помогли ему выехать], [[Obozrevatel]] (12 May 2022)</ref>

== History ==
{{further|Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)}}
[[File:Пікет в Макіївці 6 березня 1993.jpg|thumb|left|Activists of the [[People's Movement of Ukraine]] picketing the reestablishment congress of the Communist Party in [[Makiivka]], 6 March 1993]]
[[File:Flag of the Communist Party of Ukraine.svg|thumb|right|The KPU's old flag, adopted before Ukraine's [[Decommunization in Ukraine|2015 decommunization laws]], depicted [[Hammer and Sickle|a hammer and a sickle]].]]

===Early years and electoral successes===
The KPU considers itself to be the direct successor to the original [[Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)|Communist Party of Ukraine]], a branch of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU) which was founded on 5 July 1918 in Moscow.{{sfn|Bozoki|Ishiyama|2002|p=401}} The original communist party existed until 30 August 1991, when the CPSU and its branch in Ukraine were banned.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/go/1435-12|title=Про тимчасове припинення діяльності Компартії України|website=Офіційний вебпортал парламенту України}}</ref>{{sfn|Bozoki|Ishiyama|2002|p=401}} Between 1991 and 1993, several small communist organizations were created throughout Ukraine.{{sfn|Bozoki|Ishiyama|2002|p=401}} "Without clear legality", communists from all over Ukraine convened on 6 March 1993 for the All-Ukrainian Conference for Communists in an attempt to reestablish the KPU.{{sfn|Bozoki|Ishiyama|2002|p=402}} In reaction, the [[Verkhovna Rada]] (the Ukrainian parliament) legalized the establishment of communist parties two months later.{{sfn|Bozoki|Ishiyama|2002|p=402}} On 19 June 1993, the 1st Congress of the newly founded KPU was convened. Officially, it was designated as the 29th Congress to denote it as a direct successor to the Soviet KPU and it elected [[Petro Symonenko]] as First Secretary. {{sfn|Bozoki|Ishiyama|2002|p=402}}

In the [[1994 Ukrainian presidential election|1994 presidential election]], the KPU supported the candidacy of [[Oleksandr Moroz]] from the [[Socialist Party of Ukraine]] (SPU).{{sfn|Bozoki|Ishiyama|2002|p=402}} The relationship between the KPU and SPU was strong throughout the 1990s, with Moroz even speaking to the 22nd KPU Congress (held in 1999).{{sfn|Bozoki|Ishiyama|2002|p=402}}

In the [[1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election]] the party gained 24.65%<ref name=DATA/> of the vote and 123 seats, becoming the largest party in Parliament. The first ten members on the party list were [[Petro Symonenko]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Omelian Parubok ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Anatoliy Nalyvaiko (tunneler of the Karl Marks Mine ([[Yenakieve]])), Borys Oliynyk ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Valeria Zaklunna-Myronenko (actress of the [[Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Theater of Russian Drama|Lesya Ukrainka Theater]] ([[Kyiv]])), [[Adam Martynyuk]] (the 2nd secretary of the Central Committee of CPU), Anatoliy Draholyuntsev (mechanic-electrician at [[Luhanskteplovoz]]), Vasyl Sirenko (Koretsky Institute of State and Law ([[National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine|NANU]]), unaffiliated), Borys Molchanov (tool craftsman at Dniproshyna) and Anatoliy Strohov (pensioner). The KPU won 121 seats, constituting 19.5% of the seats in the Verkhovna Rada.{{sfn|Bozoki|Ishiyama|2002|p=402}}

The good result in the 1998 election led the KPU to field their own candidate in the [[1999 Ukrainian presidential election|1999 presidential election]] as they nominated party leader Symonenko.{{sfn|Bozoki|Ishiyama|2002|p=402}} Symonenko received 23.1 percent of the votes in the first round, trailing behind [[Leonid Kuchma]] who received 38,0 percent of the votes.{{sfn|Bozoki|Ishiyama|2002|pp=403–404}} In the second round Symonenko received 38,8 percent, losing to Kuchma who received 57,7 percent of the vote.{{sfn|Bozoki|Ishiyama|2002|pp=403–404}}

In 2000, two parties split from the party, namely the [[Communist Party of Ukraine (renewed)]] and the [[Communist Party of Workers and Peasants]].<ref name="cbsis24715">[http://www.rferl.mobi/a/ukraine-communist-party-barred-from-local-elections/27150657.html Ukraine Bars Communists From Elections], [[Radio Free Europe]] (24 July 2015)</ref> The KPU argued that the creation of parties was encouraged by President [[Leonid Kuchma]] in order to syphon votes away from their party.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-04-15 |title=BHHRG |url=http://www.bhhrg.org/CountryReport.asp?ChapterID=9&CountryID=22&ReportID=2&keyword= |access-date=2022-03-23 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050415230409/http://www.bhhrg.org/CountryReport.asp?ChapterID=9&CountryID=22&ReportID=2&keyword= |archive-date=15 April 2005 }}</ref>
[[File:2 КПУ.PNG|thumb|Percentage of votes for Communists in the 2002 parliamentary election]]
The [[Constitutional Court of Ukraine]] recognized in 2001 that the ban on the Communist Party of Ukraine violated the [[Constitution of Ukraine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v020p710-01|title=Ð³øåííÿ Êîñòèòóö³éíîãî Ñóäó Óêðà¿íè ó ñïðàâ³ çà... – â³ä 27.12.2001 ¹ 20-ðï/2001 (Ñòîð³íêà 1 ç 2)|access-date=16 February 2015}}</ref>

At the [[2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election|parliamentary election]] on 30 March 2002, the party won 19.98%<ref name=DATA/> of the popular vote and 66 out of 450 seats in the [[Verkhovna Rada]]. The first ten members on the party list were [[Petro Symonenko]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Omelian Parubok ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), [[Ivan Herasymov]] (Head of the Veterans of Ukraine Organization, unaffiliated), Borys Oliynyk ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Valeria Zaklunna-Myronenko ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), [[Adam Martynyuk]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), [[Stanislav Hurenko]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), [[Oleksandr Tkachenko (politician)|Oleksandr Tkachenko]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Anatoliy Nalyvaiko ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]) and [[Oleh Blokhin]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]], unaffiliated).

===Electoral decline===
Symonenko's support sharply declined at the time of the [[2004 Ukrainian presidential election|2004 presidential election]]. Symonenko received 5% of the votes and came in fourth place, unable to get into the controversial runoff which caused the [[Orange Revolution]].

Since then, the party lost much support, particularly after the Orange Revolution. In the [[2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election|2006 parliamentary election]], the party won 3.66% and 21 seats.<ref name="DATA">{{in lang|uk}} [http://da-ta.com.ua/mon_mainnews/821.htm Комуністична партія України], Database DATA</ref> The first ten members on the party list were [[Petro Symonenko]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), [[Adam Martynyuk]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), [[Ivan Herasymov]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Kateryna Samoilyk ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Omelian Parubok ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Valeria Zaklunna-Myronenko ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Oleksandr Holub ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Valentyn Matvyeyev ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), [[Oleksandr Tkachenko (politician)|Oleksandr Tkachenko]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]) and Petro Tsybenko ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]).

No later than 2006, the Communist Party office in [[Donetsk]] on regular basis provided material and logistical assistance to the separatist organization [[Donetsk Republic (political party)|Donetsk Republic]] (banned in 2007) which with the assistance of the Communist Party was spreading printed information materials of separatist orientation in authorship of the ideologist of Donetsk internationalism [[Dmitriy Kornilov]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161006103146/http://novosti.dn.ua/article/485-vlasty-donecka-otkryto-podderzhyvayut-separatyzm-y-slavyano-fashyzm Donetsk authorities openly support separatism and Slavic fascism (Власти Донецка открыто поддерживают сепаратизм и славяно-фашизм)]. Novosti Donbassa. 15 November 2006</ref> as well as by collecting signatures for "independence of Donbass" agitated for violation of territorial integrity of Ukraine through seceding several [[oblasts of Ukraine]] from Ukraine and uniting them into one quasi state formation based on Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson "republics".<ref name="zadonbass">[https://web.archive.org/web/20161006103518/http://bratyaslaviane.narod.ru/2006/4/i4-06-5-r.html In Donetsk collecting signatures to secede from Ukraine (В ДОНЕЦКЕ СОБИРАЮТ ПОДПИСИ ЗА ОТДЕЛЕНИЕ ОТ УКРАИНЫ)]. Zadonbass.</ref> Even after the Donetsk Republic Party was banned for separatism on 6 November 2007 by the Donetsk district administrative court on the suit of the Chief Justice Administration of Donetsk Oblast based on materials of the [[Security Service of Ukraine]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161006112440/http://txt.rus.newsru.ua/ukraine/23oct2009/kybann.html The banned Donetsk Republic claims that Yushchenko is preparing invasion of Kuban (Запрещённая "Донецкая республика" заявляет, что Ющенко готовит вторжение на Кубань)]. Newsru. 23 October 2009</ref> the Donetsk branch of Communists did not cease to assist separatists with its tents and printing capabilities periodically conducting joint campaigns with them.<ref name=zadonbass/>
[[File:Ukrainian parliamentary election 2007 (CPU).PNG|thumb|Percentage of vote for Communists in the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election]]
In the [[2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election|parliamentary election]] on 30 September 2007, the party won 5.39%<ref name=DATA/> of the popular vote and 27 out of 450 seats. The first ten members on the party list were [[Petro Symonenko]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Yevhen Volynets (tunneler of the Vasily Chapayev Mine ([[Shakhtarsk]])), Maryna Perestenko (Head of the Mars farm ([[Simferopol Raion]])), [[Ivan Herasymov]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Yuriy Haidayev ([[Minister of Healthcare (Ukraine)|Minister of Healthcare]], unaffiliated), [[Adam Martynyuk]] (1st deputy Chairman of parliament), Valeriy Bevz (Deputy [[Ministry of Emergencies (Ukraine)|Minister of Emergencies]]), [[Oleksandr Tkachenko (politician)|Oleksandr Tkachenko]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Oleksandr Holub ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]) and Ihor Aleksyeyev ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]). The party participated in the [[2010 Ukrainian presidential election|2010 presidential election]] as part of the [[Election bloc of left and central left political forces]].<ref name="interfax">[http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/21363/ Bloc of left and center-left forces to nominate CPU Leader for Ukraine's president] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314010307/http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/21363/ |date=14 March 2012 }}, [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (3 October 2009)</ref>

The party participated in the [[2010 Ukrainian presidential election|2010 presidential election]] as part of the [[Election bloc of left and central left political forces]].<ref name="interfax"/>

The Communist Party was part of the parliamentary coalition called "Stability and Reforms" that supported the [[First Azarov government]].<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/61800/ Member of parliament Zhvaniya: Current coalition could be reformatted], [[Kyiv Post]] (March 16, 2010)</ref>
[[File:Пам'ятник Леніну-перша спроба 1.JPG|thumb|A communist demonstration near the [[Vladimir Lenin monument, Kyiv|Lenin monument]] in Kyiv, 2009]]
On 28 November 2006, the [[Ukrainian Parliament]] adopted the Law of Ukraine "About the 1932–1933 Holodomor in Ukraine".<ref name="Holodomor">Law of Ukraine. "[http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/376-16 About 1932–1933 Holodomor in Ukraine]". [[Verkhovna Rada]] website.</ref> The first article of the document states: "The [[Holodomor]] is a genocide against the Ukrainian people".<ref name="Holodomor" /> The second article states that the public denial of the Holodomor as a genocide is recognized as desecration of the memory of millions of victims, disparaging of Ukrainian people and is unlawful.<ref name="Holodomor" /> On 13 January 2010, the Kyiv Appellate Court reviewed the criminal case on the fact of committing genocide ([[crime against humanity]]) and agreed with the conclusions of the investigation that the leadership of the Soviet Union, including [[Joseph Stalin]] and others, had purposely created such living conditions designed to physically eliminate a part of the Ukrainian national group.<ref name="kacc">[https://web.archive.org/web/20161006094635/http://ssu.kmu.gov.ua/sbu/control/uk/publish/article?art_id=97099&cat_id=63245 Resolution of the Kyiv Appellate Court on the fact of committing genocide in Ukraine in 1932–1933]. [[Security Service of Ukraine]] website.</ref> The court found Stalin and others guilty of indirectly committing the crime.<ref name=kacc/> Less than four months after the ruling, on 5 May 2010, the Communist Party branch office in [[Zaporizhzhia Oblast]] publicly unveiled a monument of Stalin in [[Zaporizhzhia]].<ref name="eosm">[https://web.archive.org/web/20161006095913/http://korrespondent.net/ukraine/events/1073426-kommunisty-ob-umershej-zhenshchine-ona-umerla-dostojnoj-smertyu-pered-stalinym Communists about the dead woman: She died of worthy death in front of Stalin (Коммунисты об умершей женщине: Она умерла достойной смертью, перед Сталиным)]. Korrespondent.net. 5 May 2010.</ref> Members of the Communist Party were criticized for hindering journalist activity and cursing at protesters during the event.<ref name=eosm/> Three people also reportedly fainted from the heat during the unveiling ceremony, and one woman later died from a heatstroke.<ref name=eosm/> The Communist Party was criticized for a statement it later issued in memory of the woman who died, which said, "She died a worthy death in front of Stalin."<ref name=eosm/>

In the [[2010 Ukrainian local elections|2010 local elections]], the party scored between 5% and 12% of the votes in all [[Ukrainian Oblasts]], except in [[Western Ukraine]] and [[Kyiv Oblast]], where they almost had no voters.<ref>{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2010/11/8/5552584/ Results of the elections, preliminary data, on interactive maps] by [[Ukrainska Pravda]] (8 November 2010)</ref>
[[File:Kpu2012over5.PNG|thumb|Support of Communists in the 2012 parliamentary election]]
In the [[2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election]], the party won 13.18% of the national votes and no [[constituencies]] (it had competed in 220 of the 225 constituencies)<ref>{{in lang|uk}} [http://apk.rbc.ua/ukr/vyboru2012/party/p05/okrug Candidates], [[RBC Ukraine]]</ref> and thus 32 seats.<ref name="Ukrelct2012resCECU">{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.cvk.gov.ua/vnd2012/wp300pt001f01=900.html Proportional votes]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030000000/http://www.cvk.gov.ua/vnd2012/wp300pt001f01%3D900.html |date=30 October 2012 }} & [http://www.cvk.gov.ua/vnd2012/wp039pt001f01=900.html Constituency seats]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105073259/http://www.cvk.gov.ua/vnd2012/wp039pt001f01%3D900.html |date=5 November 2012 }}, [[Central Election Commission of Ukraine]]</ref> The party did win about one and a half million more votes compared with the results of the previous election.<ref name="CESOlszańskiUKel12">[http://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/eastweek/2012-11-07/after-parliamentary-elections-ukraine-a-tough-victory-party-regions After the parliamentary elections in Ukraine: a tough victory for the Party of Regions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317180048/http://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/eastweek/2012-11-07/after-parliamentary-elections-ukraine-a-tough-victory-party-regions |date=17 March 2013 }}, [[Centre for Eastern Studies]] (7 November 2012)</ref> Independent candidate Oksana Kaletnyk joined the Communist parliamentary faction on 12 December 2012.<ref>{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2012/12/12/6979483/ Калетнік прийшла до комуністів, оскільки не хоче бути "інгредієнтом" ''Kaletnik came to the Communists because they do not want to be "ingredient"''], [[Ukrainska Pravda]] (12 December 2012)</ref> Importance of Kaletnyk joining the Communists was due to parliamentary regulations on obtaining its own parliamentary factions which required to have at least one deputy who came to parliament by winning a constituency.<ref>Leshchenko, S. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20141001121938/http://blogs.pravda.com.ua/authors/leschenko/50ae3e29a9cd7/view_print/ Political circus: "button-pressers" were caught on their habits]''. [[Ukrainska Pravda]]. 22 November 2012</ref> [[Oleh Tyahnybok]] tried to challenge the creation of Communist faction, but on 30 January 2013 the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine declined his petition.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141001123039/http://frankivchany.if.ua/index.php/analituka/1112-ostannia-revoliutsiia-symonenka-chy-perezhyve-kompartiia-udar-v-spynu The last revolution for Symonenko. Will the Communist Party survive strike in the back?] Frankivchanyn. 23 May 2014</ref> Kaletnyk left the faction (at her own request) on 29 May 2014.<ref>[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/207074.html Oksana Kaletnyk leaves Communist Party faction in parliament], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (29 May 2014)</ref> The first ten members on the party list were [[Petro Symonenko]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Petro Tsybenko ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Iryna Spirina (Head of Psychiatric Department (Dnipropetrovsk Medical Academy)), Spiridon Kilinkarov ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Oleksandr Prysyazhnyuk (unemployed), Ihor Aleksyeyev ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Ihor Kalyetnik (Head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine), [[Adam Martynyuk]] (1st deputy Chairman of parliament), Valentyn Matvyeyev ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]) and Yevhen Marmazov ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]). In 2007 and 2012, the electorate of the party was estimated to be very loyal to the party.<ref name="KuzioPORvotersdontgoaway">[http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=39981 Eight Reasons Why Ukraine's Party of Regions Will Win the 2012 Elections] by [[Taras Kuzio]], [[The Jamestown Foundation]] (17 October 2012)<br />[http://www.taraskuzio.net/media20_files/8.pdf UKRAINE: Yushchenko needs Tymoshenko as ally again] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515074305/http://www.taraskuzio.net/media20_files/8.pdf |date=15 May 2013 }} by [[Taras Kuzio]], [[Oxford Analytica]] (5 October 2007)</ref>

The party supported the vote of [[Mykola Azarov]]'s candidacy for the post of [[Prime Minister of Ukraine|Prime Minister]] that created the [[Second Azarov government]].<ref name=SsAKP281212b2022/> Symonenko stated on 28 December 2012 that the Communist Party of Ukraine and Azarov's (and President [[Viktor Yanukovych]]'s) [[Party of Regions]] had not concluded any agreements concerning the Communist support, but that his party had supported Azarov's nomination because Azarov had told them his government was ready to implement the program on Ukraine's accession to the [[Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia]].<ref name=SsAKP281212b2022/> Symonenko added that should Azarov fail to fulfill the promise of Ukraine's joining this customs union, the Communists would initiate his resignation.<ref name=SsAKP281212b2022>[http://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/symonenko-communist-party-had-no-agreements-to-support-azarovs-candidacy-for-premiership-318254.html Symonenko:Communist Party had no agreements to support Azarov's candidacy for premiership], ''[[Kyiv Post]]'' (28 December 2012)</ref> The government [[Ukraine–European Union relations#Viktor Yanukovych presidency|continued to negotiate]] with the [[European Union]] for [[Ukraine–European Union relations|Ukraine's integration in the European Union]] while (according to President Yanukovych) it was also in negotiations with [[Russia]] to "find the right model" for cooperation with the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/eu-to-ukraine-reforms-necessary-for-trade-pact-320910.html EU to Ukraine: Reforms necessary for trade pact] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221063228/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/eu-to-ukraine-reforms-necessary-for-trade-pact-320910.html |date=21 December 2013 }}, [[Kyiv Post]] (25 February 2013)<br />[http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-02-25/ukraine-faces-eu-reform-deadline-as-key-to-association-pact Ukraine Faces EU Reform Deadline as Key to Association Pact] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707211546/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-02-25/ukraine-faces-eu-reform-deadline-as-key-to-association-pact |date=7 July 2014 }}, [[Bloomberg Businessweek]] (25 February 2013)<br />[http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/yanukovych-happy-with-results-of-ukrainian-eu-summit-320915.html Yanukovych happy with results of Ukrainian-EU summit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221063216/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/yanukovych-happy-with-results-of-ukrainian-eu-summit-320915.html |date=21 December 2013 }}, [[Kyiv Post]] (25 February 2013)</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Ukraine's Cabinet Backs EU Association Agreement|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-eu-membership-association-agreement-government-approve/25109791.html|access-date=20 September 2013|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=18 September 2013|archive-date=20 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920084716/http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-eu-membership-association-agreement-government-approve/25109791.html|url-status=live}}<br />[http://www.interfax.co.uk/ukraine-news/eu-ukraine-association-agreement-to-be-signed-ukraine-to-go-to-europe-speaker-2/ EU-Ukraine Association Agreement to be signed, Ukraine to go to Europe – speaker] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927070845/http://www.interfax.co.uk/ukraine-news/eu-ukraine-association-agreement-to-be-signed-ukraine-to-go-to-europe-speaker-2/ |date=27 September 2013 }}, [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (25 September 2013)</ref>

===Ukrainian Revolution===
{{further|Revolution of Dignity}}
From November 2013 until February 2014, there were [[Euromaidan|large protests throughout Ukraine]]. They were sparked by President Yanukovych's sudden decision not to sign the [[European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement|political association and free trade agreement]] with the EU, instead choosing closer ties to Russia.

The Communist Party of Ukraine opposed the protests, but did not support Yanukovych. In January 2014 the party supported the draconian [[Anti-protest laws in Ukraine|Anti-protest laws]] that severely restricted freedom of speech and the right to protest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://citizenjournal.info/?id=14710 |title=Dictatorship in Ukraine legalized. Infographics of the new reality. |publisher=CitizenJournal |date=2014-01-16 |access-date=2014-01-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119202219/http://citizenjournal.info/?id=14710 |archive-date=2014-01-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/17/ukrainian-president-anti-protest-laws|title=Ukrainian president approves strict anti-protest laws|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=2014-01-17|access-date=2014-01-22}}</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25955644 Ukraine parliament passes protest amnesty law]. [[BBC]] (29 January 2014)</ref> In January and February 2014, clashes in Kyiv between protesters and [[Berkut (special police force)|Berkut]] special riot police resulted in the [[List of people killed during the Revolution of Dignity|deaths of 108 protesters and 13 police officers]].<ref name="OHCHR">{{cite web |title=Accountability for killings in Ukraine from January 2014 to May 2016 |url=https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/OHCHRThematicReportUkraineJan2014-May2016_EN.pdf |publisher=[[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]] |pages=9, 21–25}}</ref>

On 22 February 2014, Ukraine's parliament [[Revolution of Dignity#Removal of Yanukovych|voted 328–0]] (about 73% of the parliament's 450 members) to remove Yanukovych from his post and to schedule an early presidential election for 25 May.<ref name="interfax 22 feb">[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/192030.html "Rada removes Yanukovych from office, schedules new elections for May 25"]. [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (24 February 2014).</ref><ref name="w1.c1.rada.gov.ua"/> The thirty deputies of the Communist Party voted for his removal.<ref name="w1.c1.rada.gov.ua"/>

In February 2014, the party came out in firm opposition to the violence and identified the protest movement as a "coup" to overthrow the elected government and replace it with a pro-[[NATO]] regime and in an open plea from the First Secretary called for all [[communism|communist]] and [[left-wing politics|left-wing]] movements around the world to condemn the events as such.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-PP8SlF2WQEckh4NVIyVXNwUGJNTDBxYWpVZnYwZWphWmo0/edit?pli=1|title=Обращение_к_иностранным_партиям_2_(eng.).pdf|work=Google Docs|access-date=16 February 2015}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=April 2023}} However, the party did vote to remove Yanukovych.<ref name="w1.c1.rada.gov.ua"/>

===During the Russo-Ukrainian war===
{{further|Russo-Ukrainian War}}
[[File:Луганск, 1 мая 2014 года. Площадь Героев Великой Отечественной войны. Митинг Луганского областного комитета КПУ (30370104162).jpg|thumb|A Communist meeting in [[Luhansk]], 2014]]
Immediately after the revolution, [[2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine|pro-Russian, counter-revolutionary protests]] erupted in southern and eastern Ukraine. Russia occupied and then [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|annexed Crimea]], while armed [[Russian people's militias in Ukraine|pro-Russian separatists]] seized government buildings and proclaimed the independent states of [[Donetsk People's Republic|Donetsk]] and [[Luhansk People's Republic|Luhansk]], sparking the [[Donbas war]].

The [[Security Service of Ukraine]] gathered intelligence that the Communist Party of Ukraine had been helping the [[Russian people's militias in Ukraine|Russian proxy forces]]. In May 2014, Ukraine's Acting President, [[Oleksandr Turchynov]], asked the [[Ministry of Justice (Ukraine)|Ministry of Justice]] to examine whether the party was involved in actions aimed at violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to take steps to ban the party if this is proven.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/205417.html|title=Turchynov asks Justice Ministry to ban Communist Party of Ukraine|work=Interfax-Ukraine|access-date=16 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://un.ua/eng/article/509222.html|title=Turchynov Calls Justice Ministry Apply Court For Prohibition Of Communist Party If Their Collaboration With Separatists Proved|date=13 May 2014|access-date=14 May 2014|publisher=Ukrainian News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726173239/http://un.ua/eng/article/509222.html|archive-date=26 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 11 April, there was a scuffle in the [[Verkhovna Rada]] between KPU leader [[Petro Symonenko]] and two MPs from the far-right [[Svoboda (political party)|"Svoboda" party]], after Symonenko blamed them for the [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|Russian annexation of Crimea]] and the [[2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine|pro-Russian unrest]]. After repeatedly calling for calm, the parliament chairman suspended the session for fifteen minutes.<ref>{{Citation|last=Andre Fomine|title=Ukraine's Opposition leader Petro Simonenko roughed up by Svoboda ultranationalists|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5FW4xirM48| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411231520/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5FW4xirM48| archive-date=11 April 2014 | url-status=dead|access-date=17 December 2018}}</ref> On 6 May, a majority of MPs voted to expel the Communist Party from the parliamentary session hall for making a pro-separatist declaration.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/ukrainian-communists-outraged-by-rada-majoritys-decision-to-expel-faction-from-session-hall-346594.html|title=Ukrainian Communists outraged by Rada majority's decision to expel faction from session hall|date=6 May 2014|access-date=7 May 2014|newspaper=Kyiv Post}}</ref>

In the [[2014 Ukrainian presidential election]], Symonenko initially again ran as a candidate of his party, but he withdrew from the race on 16 May.<ref name="CommunistoutPresE2014">[http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/communist-leader-symonenko-withdraws-his-candidacy-from-presidential-race-348211.html Communist leader Symonenko withdraws his candidacy from presidential race], [[Kyiv Post]] (16 May 2014)</ref> The [[Central Election Commission of Ukraine|Central Election Commission]] was unable to remove his name from the ballot because he withdrew from the race after the deadline of 1 May.<ref name="TLUP17514">{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/05/17/7025648/ Simonenko left the ballot], [[Ukrainska Pravda]] (17 May 2014)</ref> In the election, he received 1.5% of the vote.<ref name="CEC election results">{{cite web|url=http://www.nrcu.gov.ua/en/148/566632/ |title=Poroshenko wins presidential election with 54.7% of vote – CEC |publisher=[[Radio Ukraine International]] |date=29 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529212731/http://www.nrcu.gov.ua/en/148/566632/ |archive-date=29 May 2014 }}<br />{{in lang|ru}} [http://telegraf.com.ua/ukraina/politika/1300294-rezultatyi-vyiborov-prezidenta-ukrainyi-2014-tsik-obrabotala-51-99.html Results election of Ukrainian president], Телеграф (29 May 2014)</ref>

On 8 July, the [[Ministry of Justice (Ukraine)|Ministry of Justice]] asked Kyiv's District Administrative Court to ban the activity of the party as a result of "a large amount of evidence regarding illegal activities and illegal actions on the part of the Communist Party" (according to Justice Minister [[Pavlo Petrenko]]).<ref>[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/212602.html Justice Ministry launches process to ban Communist Party of Ukraine], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (8 July 2014)</ref> The [[Party of the European Left]] and the [[European United Left–Nordic Green Left]] grouping in the [[European Parliament]] condemned the possible ban and declared their solidarity with the KPU.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.european-left.org/positions/ukraine-no-more-war-no-more-fascism|title=Ukraine: No more war, no more fascism|access-date=16 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726091659/http://www.european-left.org/positions/ukraine-no-more-war-no-more-fascism|archive-date=26 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guengl.eu/news/article/ukrainian-democracy-under-threat-as-interim-government-moves-to-ban-communi|title=Ukrainian democracy under threat as interim government moves to ban Communist party|access-date=16 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728060047/http://www.guengl.eu/news/article/ukrainian-democracy-under-threat-as-interim-government-moves-to-ban-communi|archive-date=28 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Russia's [[State Duma]] denounced the ban too and said it was "an attempt by the new Kyiv authorities to force political and civil forces that do not agree with the path taken by the [[ultranationalist]] powers to shut up".<ref name="Communist Party Ousted From Ukraine Parliament"/> The KPU also received solidarity from the [[National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers]] (RMT) in Britain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ukraineantifascistsolidarity.wordpress.com/2014/09/10/rmt-union-denounces-western-support-for-kiev-supports-antifascist-resistance/|title=RMT union denounces Western support for Kiev – supports antifascist resistance – Solidarity with the Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine|work=Solidarity with the Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine|access-date=16 February 2015|date=10 September 2014}}</ref>

On 1 July, six MPs left the Communist Party faction in parliament, reducing it to 23 members.<ref>[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/211577.html Six MPs leave Communist Party faction in Ukraine's parliament], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (1 July 2014)</ref><ref name="DynVRfCPU">{{in lang|uk}} [http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/site2/p_fraction_dep_changes?pidid=2359 ''Dynamics in the fraction of the in the Communist Party of Ukraine in the VII convocation''], [[Verkhovna Rada]]</ref> On 22 July, a vote supported by 232 MPs gave the [[Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada]] (the speaker of Ukraine's parliament) the power to dissolve a faction that has lost some of its members compared to the number it had while it was formed during the first parliamentary session after the previous election, pending a signature from President [[Petro Poroshenko]].<ref name="Communist Party Ousted From Ukraine Parliament">[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/communist-party-ousted-from-ukraine-parliament/503966.html Communist Party Ousted From Ukraine Parliament], ''[[The Moscow Times]]'' (23 July 2014)</ref><ref name=dissolvCPUiVR/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTWeN-8WX6g| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723015018/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTWeN-8WX6g| archive-date=23 July 2014 | url-status=dead|title=22.07.2014 Верховная Рада проголосовала за запрет Компартии Украины|date=22 July 2014|work=YouTube|access-date=16 February 2015}}</ref> Later that day, Poroshenko signed this bill, giving effect to this new parliamentary regulation.<ref name="Communist Party Ousted From Ukraine Parliament"/> The next day, speaker and former Acting President Turchynov announced the party's impending dissolution and added to MPs: "We only have to tolerate this party for another day".<ref name="Communist Party Ousted From Ukraine Parliament"/> The party's faction in parliament was dissolved on 24 July by Turchynov.<ref name=dissolvCPUiVR/> That same day, it was announced that 308 criminal proceedings had been opened against members of the party.<ref name="Against the Communists opened 308 criminal proceedings">{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/07/24/7032868/ Against the Communists opened 308 criminal proceedings], [[Ukrainska Pravda]] (24 July 2014)</ref> Communist Party members were accused of openly supporting the [[annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|Russian annexation of Crimea]], supporting the breakaway [[Donetsk People's Republic]] and [[Luhansk People's Republic]], and agitating for Russian annexation of [[Dnipropetrovsk Oblast]].<ref name="Against the Communists opened 308 criminal proceedings"/>

On 4 September, the Kyiv District Administrative Court indefinitely postponed the hearing about the ban of the party.<ref name="CPBPIU101114">[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/233543.html SBU chief: Communist Party ban important for national security], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (10 November 2014)</ref>
[[File:Результати виборів до ВР України 2014 (Комуністична партія України).png|thumb|A map showing the results of the Communist Party of Ukraine in the 2014 elections]]
The [[2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election|October 2014 parliamentary election]] further marginalized the party as it won no constituency seats and came 1.12% short of reaching the 5% election threshold.<ref name=ddcad/><ref name="General official results of Rada election 2014"/><ref name="CPUle">{{in lang|uk}} [http://ua.interfax.com.ua/news/political/220723.html Communist Party of Ukraine goes to elections to Parliament, the electoral list headed Symonenko], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (29 August 2014)</ref> This meant that for the first time since 1918, Communists were not represented in Ukrainian national politics.<ref name="ddcad">[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/231601.html Ukrainian Communist leader Symonenko not planning to leave country], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (29 October 2014)<br />[https://time.com/3541977/ukraine-break-with-soviet-past/ Ukraine's Elections Mark a Historic Break With Russia and Its Soviet Past], [[Time magazine]] (27 October 2014)</ref> The first ten members on the party list for the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election were [[Petro Symonenko]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), [[Adam Martynyuk]] ([[People's Deputy of Ukraine|MP]]), Kateryna Samoylyk (senior), Vasyl Sirenko (Koretsky Institute of State and Law, non-partisan), Petro Tsybenko (MP), Ihor Aleksyeyev (MP), Serhiy Hordiyenko (MP), Yevhen Marmazov (MP), Spiridon Kilinkarov (MP) and Serhiy Khrapov (unemployed).

In May 2015, [[Decommunization in Ukraine|laws that banned Soviet communist symbols]] (the so-called "decommunization laws") came into effect in Ukraine, meaning that the party could not use communist symbols or sing the Soviet national hymn or "[[The Internationale]]".<ref name="Ban"/> In a 24 July decree based on these laws, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry stripped the party of its right to participate in elections and stated that it was continuing the court actions (which started in July 2014) to end the registration of Ukraine's communist parties.<ref name="Banukcom24715"/>

On 30 September, the District Administrative Court in Kyiv banned two smaller communist parties: the [[Communist Party of Workers and Peasants]] and the [[Communist Party of Ukraine (renewed)]].<ref name="scpubog">{{in lang|uk}} [http://pda.pravda.com.ua/news/id_7083272/ The court banned the two Communist parties], [[Ukrainska Pravda]] (1 October 2015)<br />[http://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-politics/1891573-kyivs-court-terminates-two-communist-parties.html Kyiv's Court terminates two Communist parties], [[Ukrinform]] (1 October 2015)</ref> However, the Communist Party was not banned because it had filed an appeal against the Justice Ministry's decree on its activity termination.<ref name=scpubog/>

The party decided to take part in the [[2015 Ukrainian local elections|October 2015 local elections]] as part of the umbrella party [[Left Opposition (Ukraine)|Left Opposition]].<ref name="Banukcomblo">{{in lang|ru}} [http://rian.com.ua/politics/20150813/372126676.html The communists go to the polls in the "Left Opposition" – the leader of the Communist Party], [[RIA Novosti]] [[Ukraine]] (13 August 2015)</ref> According to the Interior Ministry, this was legal as long as the new party did not use communist symbols.<ref name="Banukcomblo"/> Other party members took part in this election as [[Nova Derzhava]].<ref name=ukctec/> The political party Nova Derzhava was established in 2012.<ref name="node">[https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2015/09/25/7082636/ Symonenko invented how to squeeze into the local elections (Симоненко придумал, как протиснуться на местные выборы)]. [[Ukrainska Pravda]]. 25 September 2015</ref> On 1 August, it elected a new leader Oleh Melnyk.<ref name=node/> Formally along with the Communist Party, it is also a member of the Left Opposition Association.<ref name=node/>

In late 2015, 19 local party leaders from the party's [[South Ukraine|South]] and [[East Ukraine]] organizations resigned from the central committee to protest against the repression of internal dissent they blamed on Symonenko.<ref name=ukctec/>

====Banning====
On 16 December 2015, at the request of the [[Ministry of Justice of Ukraine|Ministry of Justice]], the District Administrative Court in Kyiv banned the Communist Party for actions aimed at violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, collaboration with Russian proxy forces, and inciting ethnic hatred.<ref name="unian.info"/> This ban was criticized by John Dalhuisen of [[Amnesty International]], who said the ban was "the same style of draconian measures used to stifle dissent" in the Soviet Union.<ref name="theguardian.com"/> On 25 January 2016, the [[Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine]] denied the party in the consideration of the cassation of the (16 December 2015) ban.<ref>[http://www.unian.info/society/1246162-ban-of-communist-party-final-ukraines-supreme-administrative-court.html Ban of Communist Party final: Ukraine's Supreme Administrative Court], [[UNIAN]] (25 January 2016)</ref> The court suspended the appeal for the time being until the Constitutional Court determines the legitimacy of the law on decommunization.<ref name="UP71SPbSK754ldCC">{{in lang|uk}} [https://hromadske.ua/posts/ukrainski-sotsialisty From Frank to Kiwis: who are the Ukrainian socialists], [[Hromadske.TV]] (1 May 2018)</ref> Nevertheless, the party appealed its ban at the [[European Court of Human Rights]].<ref name=ukctec/> The attempts to ban the party never did forbid individual members of the party to take part in elections as an [[independent candidate]].<ref name="kpuim19616">{{in lang|uk}} [http://pda.pravda.com.ua/news/id_7112314/ Довибори до ВР: У Дніпрі 51 кандидат, є представник КПУ (By-election to the Verkhovna Rada: in Dnipro 51, a candidate is a representative of the Communist Party)], ''[[Ukrainska Pravda]]'', 19 June 2016.</ref>

The party still sends in its required financial reports and is still listed on the website of the Ministry of Justice and the website of the Department of State Registration and Notary.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-05 |title=Життя після смерті. Хто і навіщо будить Партію регіонів? |url=https://glavcom.ua/country/politics/zhittya-pislya-smerti-hto-i-navishcho-budit-partiyu-regioniv-456775.html |access-date=2022-12-25 |website=Главком {{!}} Glavcom |language=uk}}</ref> In February 2019, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine refused to register the candidacy of Symonenko for the [[2019 Ukrainian presidential election]] due to the fact that the statute, name and symbolism of the Communist Party did not comply with the 2015 decommunization laws.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Зубкова |first=Даша |date=6 February 2019 |title=Court Refuses To Order CEC To Register CPU Leader Symonenko As Presidential Candidate |url=https://ukranews.com/en/news/612241-court-refuses-to-order-cec-to-register-cpu-leader-symonenko-as-presidential-candidate |website=Ukrainian News}}</ref>

According to a [[Kyiv Polytechnic]] professor, who published an article in ''[[The Guardian]]'', the party came into conflict with the Ukrainian government after the [[Revolution of Dignity]] due to prominent displays of support for ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych during the Euromaidan protests{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} and alleged involvement with the [[2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine|separatist movement]] in [[Donbas]] as well as the party's pro-[[Russian government]] agenda.<ref name=ukctec/> However, the party did vote in favour of the impeachment of Yanukovych.<ref name="w1.c1.rada.gov.ua">[http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/radan_gs09/ns_golos?g_id=3863 Parliamentary vote on the draft resolution on the withdrawal of President of Ukraine to fulfill constitutional powers (number 4193) – as a basis and as a whole] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312210622/http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/radan_gs09/ns_golos?g_id=3863 |date=12 March 2014 }}, [[Verkhovna Rada]]</ref> Two days after the Ukrainian parliament changed its regulations regarding the required size of parliamentary groups, the Communist Party faction was dissolved on 24 July 2014.<ref name="dissolvCPUiVR">[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/215171.html Turchynov dissolves Ukrainian Communist Party faction in parliament], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (24 July 2014)</ref>

According to political scientist Tadeusz A. Olszański, the party "effectively supports the separatist rebellion" during the [[Russo-Ukrainian War]].<ref name="Olszanski">{{Citation |first=Tadeusz A. |last=Olszański |title=Ukraine's political parties at the start of the election campaign |publisher=OSW—Centre for Eastern Studies |date=17 September 2014 |url=http://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/analyses/2014-09-17/ukraines-political-parties-start-election-campaign}}</ref>

Explaining the withdrawal of the status of political party from the KPU and two of its satellites, the secretary of state security and defense Oleksandr Turchynov stated in July 2015 that the Communist Party took a treacherous position from the very first days of Russian aggression and acted as its [[Fifth Column]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://interfax.com.ua/news/political/279951.html|title=КПУ і дві партії-сателіти втратили статус і права політичної партії в Україні – Турчинов|website=Інтерфакс-Україна}}</ref>

====Seizure of assets====
On 6 July 2022, following the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the KPU was again banned after a [[Lviv]] court ruling which turned over all its assets, including party buildings and funds, to the Ukrainian state. In a statement, the [[Judiciary of Ukraine|Eighth Administrative Appeal Court]] said that it had satisfied the claims of the Ministry of Justice and ordered the party's banning. "The activity of the Communist Party of Ukraine is prohibited; the property, funds and other assets of the party, its regional, city, district organisations, primary centres and other structural entities have been transferred to the state."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/communist-party-of-ukraine-banned-and-all-its-assets-seized-by-the-state|title=Communist Party of Ukraine banned and all its assets seized by the state|last=Sweeney|first=Steve|date=5 July 2022|work=Morning Star|accessdate=7 July 2022}}</ref>

During the Russian invasion, the party was reported to have taken a pro-Russian stance, and the party's leader Petro Symonenko in March had fled to [[Belarus]] with the assistance of Russian forces during the [[Kyiv offensive (2022)|Kyiv offensive]].<ref name="Obozrevatel"/>

In October 2022, Symonenko took part in the [[International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties]] in [[Havana]], [[Cuba]]. During the speech, he blamed the United States and the United Kingdom for the war, and said they wanted to "use Ukraine against Russia and [[Taiwan]] against [[China]]".<ref name="Symonenko Cuba">{{cite web |url=http://www.rifondazione.it/esteri/index.php/2022/11/16/ucraina-parla-il-segretario-del-pc-dellucraina/ |title=Ucraina: parla il Segretario del PC dell'Ucraina |publisher=[[Communist Refoundation Party]] |language=it |date=16 November 2022 |access-date=24 July 2023 }}</ref>

In August 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine opened an investigation against him on the charges of [[sedition]] and [[treason]].<ref name="Roschina"/>

== Ideology ==
[[File:Kyiv Spartak Stadium1.jpg|thumb|A congress of the Communist Party in Kyiv's Spartak Stadium, September 2013]]
In its statute, the Communist Party claims that "on voluntary basis it unites citizens of Ukraine who are supporters of the Communist idea".<ref name="program">[http://www.kpu.ua/uk/page/programmakpu Party program] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001232415/http://www.kpu.ua/uk/page/programmakpu |date=1 October 2016 }}. Communist Party of Ukraine official website.</ref> The party considers itself a successor of the Communist Party of Ukraine of the [[Soviet Union]] and calls itself a "battle detachment of RKP(b)–VKP(b)–KPSS".<ref name=program/> The party claims that prohibition of that party in August 1991 was unlawful,<ref name=program/> which was confirmed by the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on 27 December 2001. The party sets itself in an opposition to any government and seeks a full restoration of the [[socialist state]] in the country without any particular association with any other political parties.<ref name=program/>

=== Program ===
{{unreferenced section|date=February 2025}}
* Political sphere: liquidation of [[presidency]] as an institution, strengthening of democratic measures of state and public life; electoral legislation reform ensuring a proper share of representation of workers, peasants, intelligentsia, women, youth in [[Verkhovna Rada]] of Ukraine and local government; introduction of practice to recall deputies and judges who received vote of no confidence; election of judges of prime level; filling with real meaning and proper financial support regional and local government; introduction in the country a system of public control; creation of labor group councils vested with powers to monitor economic activity of businesses; suppression of corruption, organized crime, particularly in the upper echelon of power; elimination of benefits and privileges for officials; federalization of Ukraine; comprehensive development of Ukrainian language and culture, granting Russian language the status of state language; changing of Ukraine's state symbol, lyrics and music of the State anthem.
* Economic policy: modernization and public control over economy, nationalization of strategic businesses; establishing a competitive state sector of economy, energy independence; reforms in Agro-Industrial Complex, Housing and Communal Services, etc.; prohibition of private property.
* Social sphere: liquidation of poverty, social justice, system of [[progressive tax]]ation and state price regulation, free medicine, [[secondary education|secondary]] and [[tertiary education]]; full compensation of deposits in the Soviet Savings Bank.
* Spiritual sphere: quality [[youth politics]]; preservation of historical and cultural heritage including Soviet; increased punishment for distribution of narcotics, human trafficking, prostitution, promotion of pornography, violence; combating immorality, vulgarity, cynicism, national chauvinism, xenophobia, falsification of history, fascism, neo-Nazism, anti-Communism, anti-Sovietism; banning of neo-Nazi organizations in Ukraine, criminal penalties for acts of fascism; freedom of worldview and expression of faith, [[secular state]].
* Foreign policy: non-aligned military status, independent foreign policy, active position on creation of a new European system of collective security, reform of the [[Armed Forces of Ukraine]], review international agreements with [[World Trade Organization|WTO]] and [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]], membership and active position in the [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]], [[Eurasian Customs Union|Customs Union]] and [[Eurasian Economic Community]] of the Russian Federation, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

=== Soviet legacy ===
The KPU was established as "the inheritor of the ideas and traditions of the KPU, as it existed until its banning in August 1991".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=30}} In general, the party has laid weight on [[nostalgia for the Soviet Union]] to gain votes.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=30}} In contrast to many parts of the former Soviet Union where [[Left-conservatism|leftist conservatives]] have tried to win votes by promoting local nationalism, the KPU supports a form of [[Soviet nationalism]],{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=30}} considering the establishment of an independent Ukraine as illegal.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=29}} The party has remained loyal to the legacy of the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=31}} In 1998, to celebrate the would-be 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union it published ''Historical Thesis'', a text which painted a rosy picture of the former state.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=31}} The Soviet Union is barely criticized and controversial events such as the [[Great Purge]] and Holodomor are not mentioned in the party press.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=31}} There are some who are favorable to Joseph Stalin's legacy, giving the impression that things "only began to go wrong with [[Nikita Khrushchev|[Nikita] Khrushchev's]] 'adventurism'".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=31}} Despite all this, when the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) is criticized at all, the favored line is that the party and state lost their belief in key [[Leninism|Leninist principles]].{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=31}} [[Vladimir Lenin]], the founder of the Soviet Union, "is still considered [[sacrosanct]]" by the party and official pronouncements talk of the "Leninist Communist Party of Ukraine" and more precisely that the KPU continues "speaking in the words of Lenin".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=31}}

Symonenko has criticized the label of conservative on the KPU, stating that the party is not willing to abandon its own history.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=31}} He has referred to the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] as "the tragic events of the recent past".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=31}} Further, the KPU believes the Soviet Union "was criminally destroyed".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=31}} The party believes that Ukraine has been living off the legacy of the Soviet Union since its independence.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=31}} However, certain concessions to the present have been made and at the 2nd KPU Congress it was stated that "it would be [[Utopian socialism|utopian]] to try and [[planned economy|revive a socio-economic system of different relations]], which existed in different conditions, under different principles and [[means of production|different organizations of production]] and distribution, [[Superstructure (Marxism)|different social-class structures of society]], a [[Class consciousness|different level of consciousness]]".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=32}}

=== Marxism ===
The party adheres and believes in the [[Marxism|Marxian concepts]] of [[class struggle]] and [[historical materialism]].{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=32}} Their ongoing belief in historical materialism cements their views that the [[socialist mode of production]] will still be the society of the future.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=32}} It could be said that the party believed stronger than ever in the possibility of a socialist future since the "careerists", symbolized by [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], [[Boris Yeltsin]] and [[Leonid Kravchuk]], were gone.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=32}}

The KPU believes that since the West has developed into a [[post-industrial society]], [[capitalism]] through [[globalization]] was actively "de-modernizing" Ukraine.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=32}} This was in their favor since de-modernization would lead to the reestablishment of a dominant [[proletariat|proletarian class]].{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=32}} As Vasyl Tereshchuk, a former party theoretician expelled in 2005, noted: "People are surviving on what they accumulated in the years of Soviet power: that is, they are not yet a classic proletariat as they still have much to lose (a flat, a car, a dacha, etc.). But their full proletarianization will come sooner or later".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=32}} Secondly, the dissolution of the Soviet Union directly led to the reestablishment of class antagonism in society.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=32}} This antagonism led to the [[Marx's theory of exploitation|exploitation]] of the proletariat by "a comprador [[bourgeoisie]] ... behind which stands world [[imperialism]] headed by the USA".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=32}} According to Symonenko, on this basis there was no chance for a [[social democratic]] movement ever to develop in Ukraine.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=32}} The "softening of class antagonism in the West" which had led to the establishment of social democratic parties "was only possible because the local working class, as part of the 'golden billion', lived 'as parasites on the labour of the countries of the world periphery' to which Ukraine was rapidly being consigned. Ukraine could not expect any 'lessening of class
antagonism, only the reverse".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|pp=32–33}} Symonenko appreciates the economical aid and partnership with [[China]] and calls to use the [[Chinese Communist Party]] as the example, giving the country back to the working people, and "build our country into a strong country like China".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://shehui.daqi.com/article/3409264.html|title=彻底被震撼: 乌克兰共产党领袖竟如此大赞中国!(图)|access-date=16 February 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506213331/http://shehui.daqi.com/article/3409264.html|archive-date=6 May 2015}}</ref>

=== Views on nationalism ===
At least in the beginning, the party is best described as [[Soviet patriotism|Soviet patriotic]].{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=33}} As Yurii Solomatin, a member of parliament, noted in 2000, "we are Soviet communists; we are Soviet people; we are Soviet patriots".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=33}} The party continues speaking about the existence of a "[[Soviet people]]" and "Soviet homeland" and at the beginning no concessions were given to local [[Ukrainian nationalism]].{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=33}} There has been no talk of establishing a national communism unique to Ukraine and the 1st KPU Congress even criticized the notion of establishing a unique "Ukrainian communism".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=33}} Instead, the KPU has opted promoting Ukraine as a "bi-cultural state".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=33}} At the 1st KPU Congress, Symonenko told the delegates that "'the interests, rights and specific traits of one nation above those of other nations and nationalities', and in which 'the [[Ukrainian language]]' should not be 'over'-privileged, but left alone to enjoy 'its natural development, purged of the imposed language of the diaspora. The [[Russian language]], as the native language of half the population of Ukraine, [should be given] the status of a state language alongside Ukrainian".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=34}} Their views on patriotism is highly nostalgic. When the [[Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (UCP–CPSU), a loose organization of post-Soviet parties was formed, it was met with open arms.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=34}} However, when the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]] proposed in 1995 to transform the organization into a modern-day [[Comintern]], the KPU opposed because of their Soviet patriotic views.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|pp=34–35}}

In recent years, their commitment to Soviet patriotism has been partially replaced with a vaguer [[Eurasianism]].{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=35}} Wishing not to reestablish a union with Russia "as a protectorate of the Russian bourgeoisie", "the Ukrainian Communists have rediscovered the natural link from Soviet to East Slavic or Eurasian nationalism in the supposed common 'economic civilization' and proclivity for collective labour of all the East Slavic peoples".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=35}} As noted in the party journal ''Communist'', the "'Soviet man ... did not emerge from nothing before him stood the courageous Slavic-Rusich, the labour-loving Ukrainian peasant, the self-sacrificing Cossack".{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=35}} At the 4th KPU Congress, the party conceded that Ukraine would not join any particular union as long as it weakened the country's sovereignty.{{sfn|Wilson|2002|p=45}} At the same time, Petro Symonenko publicly backed Ukraine's membership in the Eurasian Customs Union.<ref name="ts">{{Cite web |url=http://symonenko.info/ru/video/25/pro-jevrointegratsiju |title=Петро Симоненко про Митний союз |accessdate=31 October 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102200225/http://symonenko.info/ru/video/25/pro-jevrointegratsiju |archivedate=2 November 2013 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

Symonenko has often been referred to as a [[Ukrainophobia|Ukrainophobe]], despite being of [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian ethnicity]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.unian.ua/politics/533863-eksperti-viznachili-naybilsh-aktivnih-ukrajinofobiv-chasiv-nezalejnosti.html | title = Експерти визначили найбільш активних українофобів часів Незалежності |trans-title=Experts defined the most active Ukrainophobes in times of the independence | publisher = [[Ukrainian Independent Information Agency]] | access-date = 22 February 2014 | date = 23 August 2011 |author1=Lesiv, K |author2=Yaschenko, A |author3=Mishchenko, M }}</ref> Symonenko made controversy in 2007 when he accused the Ukrainian nationalist figure [[Roman Shukhevych]] of receiving two [[Iron Cross]]es from Adolf Hitler. Shukhevych's children submitted a lawsuit against Symonenko in response. The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv city declared that Symonenko failed to present any proof of his claim and obligated "to refute the false information he spread about Roman Shukhevych at the next plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine after the court's decision enters into force".<ref name="shukhevych">{{cite web|url=http://www.istpravda.com.ua/short/2011/02/18/25493/|title=Син Шухевича нагадав Литвину, що Симоненко має вибачитися за брехню про Гітлера |trans-title=Son of Shukhevych reminded Lytvyn that Symonenko has to apologize for the lie about Hitler|work=[[Ukrainska Pravda]]|date=18 February 2011|access-date=12 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://unian.ua/rus/news/news-366631.html |title=УНП просить вимкнути мікрофон Симоненку |accessdate=11 January 2011 |archive-date=2 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102092429/http://www.unian.ua/rus/news/news-366631.html }}</ref>

== Criticism ==
Writing on ''The Guardian'', Ukrainian sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko described the KPU as a "conservative and pro-Russian group", whose leaders "became a part of the bourgeois elite and invited business support for their cause", pointing out that the richest deputy of the [[7th Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada]] ([[Oksana Kalietnik]]) was a member of the Communist faction. Thus, according to Ishchenko "the only things the party has in common with the determined Bolshevik revolutionaries of the past who spared neither themselves nor others are devotion to the Soviet symbols and appeals to empty 'Marxist-Leninist' phrases".<ref name="theguardian" />

After the start of Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity, the party newspaper ''Komunist'' published an article comparing the protests to [[Ghetto riots (1964–1969)|riots in Black ghettoes in the United States during the 1960s]]; the article, titled "White on the outside, black on the inside", stated that "at least in [[New York City|New York]], [[Los Angeles]] and [[San Francisco]] the police sometimes make raids on such places and simply kill a few rabid Negroes. [...] Even the dark-skinned vendors in Kyiv second hand shops seem a bit more civilized than our 'light-skinned brothers' from the western regions of the country, who have gathered on the Maidan".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kuzmienko |first=M. |date=17 January 2014 |title="Білий" зовні, але "чорний" зсередини |work=Komunist}}</ref> The article was widely condemned as racist.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2015-12-29 |title=THE BANNING OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF UKRAINE |url=https://ukrainesolidaritycampaign.org/2015/12/29/the-banning-of-the-communist-party-of-ukraine/ |access-date= |website=Ukraine Solidarity Campaign |language=en}}</ref>

== Election results ==
=== Parliamentary elections ===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ [[Verkhovna Rada]]
!rowspan=2| Year
!colspan=3| Party-list
!rowspan=2| Constituency<small>/total</small>
!rowspan=2| Overall seats won
!rowspan=2| Seat change
!rowspan=2| Government
|-
! Popular vote
! %
! Seats<small>/total</small>
|-
![[1994 Ukrainian parliamentary election|1994]]
|3,683,332
|13.6%
|
|86/338
|{{composition bar|86|450|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Ukraine}}}}
|{{increase}} 86
|{{yes|Government}}
|-
![[1998 Ukrainian parliamentary election|1998]]
|6,550,353
|25.4%
|84/225
|27/220
|{{composition bar|121|450|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Ukraine}}}}
|{{increase}} 35
|{{partial|Minority support}}
|-
![[2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election|2002]]
|5,178,074
|20.8%
|59/225
|7/225
|{{composition bar|66|450|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Ukraine}}}}
|{{decrease}} 55
|{{no|Opposition}}
|-
![[2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election|2006]]
|929,591
|3.7%
|21/450
|N/A
|{{composition bar|21|450|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Ukraine}}}}
|{{decrease}} 45
|{{yes|Coalition government}}
|-
![[2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election|2007]]
|1,257,291
|5.4%
|27/450
|N/A
|{{composition bar|27|450|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Ukraine}}}}
|{{increase}} 6
|{{no|Opposition}}
|-
![[2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election|2012]]
|2,687,246
|13.2%
|32/225
|–/220
|{{composition bar|32|450|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Ukraine}}}}
|{{increase}} 5
|{{partial|Minority support}}
|-
![[2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election|2014]]
|608,756
|3.87%
|–/225
|–/198
|{{composition bar|0|450|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Ukraine}}}}
|{{decrease}} 32
|{{no|Extra-parliamentary}}
|-
![[2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election|2019]]
| colspan="2" |Registration denied
| –/225
| –/199
|{{Composition bar|0|450}}
|
|{{no|Extra-parliamentary}}
|}
{{clear}}

=== Presidential elections ===
{|class=wikitable
|-
|colspan=7|[[President of Ukraine|Presidency of Ukraine]]
|-
!rowspan=2|Election year
!rowspan=2|Candidate
!colspan=2|First round
!colspan=2|Second round
|-
!No. of<br />overall votes
!% of<br />overall vote
!No. of<br />overall votes
!% of<br />overall vote
|-
![[1994 Ukrainian presidential election|1994]]
|[[Oleksandr Moroz]] (endorsed by the CPU)
|3,466,541
|13.3
|colspan=2 bgcolor=lightgrey|
|-
![[1999 Ukrainian presidential election|1999]]
|[[Petro Symonenko]]
|5,849,077
|23.1
|10,665,420
|38.8
|-
![[2004 Ukrainian presidential election|2004]]
|[[Petro Symonenko]]
|1,396,135
|5.0
|colspan=2 bgcolor=lightgrey|
|-
![[2010 Ukrainian presidential election|2010]]
|[[Petro Symonenko]]
|872,877
|3.5
|colspan=2 bgcolor=lightgrey|
|-
![[2014 Ukrainian presidential election|2014]]
|[[Petro Symonenko]]
|272,723
|1.5
|colspan=2 bgcolor=lightgrey|
|-
![[2019 Ukrainian presidential election|2019]]
|[[Petro Symonenko]]
|colspan=2 align=center bgcolor=|Registration denied
|colspan=2 bgcolor=lightgrey|
|}

== Ministerial appointments ==
* March–December 2007: Yuriy Haidayev [[Ministry of Healthcare (Ukraine)]] ([[second Yanukovych government]])
** Haidayev was officially unaffiliated, but he was on the party list to parliament from the Communist Party

== Splinter parties ==
* [[Communist Party of Ukraine (renewed)]]
* [[Communist Party of Workers and Peasants]]
* [[Communist Party of the Donetsk People's Republic]]

== See also ==
* [[Antifascist Committee of Ukraine]], a committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine acting as a separate organization

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Sources ===

==== Books ====
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last1=Bozoki|first1=Andras|last2=Ishiyama|first2=John T.|author-link2=John Ishiyama|title= The Communist Successor Parties of Central and Eastern Europe|year=2002|publisher=[[M.E. Sharpe]]|isbn=978-0765609861}}
{{refend}}

==== Journal articles ====
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite news|last=Wilson|first=Andrew|year=2002|title=Reinventing the Ukrainian Left: Assessing Adaptability and Change, 1991–2000|pages=21–59|work=[[The Slavonic and East European Review]]|publisher=[[Modern Humanities Research Association]]/[[University College London|University College London, School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies]]|jstor=4213373}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Communist Party of Ukraine}}
* {{in lang|uk|ru}} [http://www.kpu.life/ Official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809055607/http://www.kpu.life/ |date=9 August 2019 }}

{{Communist Party of Ukraine}}
{{Left-wing parties in Ukraine}}
{{European communist parties}}
{{Ukrainian Political Parties}}
{{Kyiv local political parties}}
{{Crimean political parties}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Communist Party Of Ukraine}}
[[Category:Communist Party of Ukraine| ]]
[[Category:1993 establishments in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Banned communist parties in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Banned political parties in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Eurosceptic parties in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Far-left political parties]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1993]]
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[[Category:International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties]]
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